Where the Wind Blows
by Capitaine Pickle
Summary: After Uzushio's destruction, Naruto moved to Konoha with his father. Now, Naruto will have to face new dangers, starting with the Chunin Exams. [Sequel to Silver Lining, eventual SasuNaru.]
1. Mind Games

**Summary:** After Uzushio's destruction, Naruto moved to Konoha with his father. Now, Naruto will have to face new dangers, starting with the Chunin Exams. _[Sequel to Silver Lining, eventual SasuNaru.]_

 **VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!:** If you haven't read _Silver Lining_ , or haven't read it in a while, and **don't want to (re)read it** , please take a look at its last chapter titled ''IMPORTANT'' where I summarize the whole story. It will make _Where the Wind Blows_ **much** easier to understand.

* * *

 **Where the Wind Blows**

 _Mind Games_

ꞌꞌAre you ready?''

Minato stood on the threshold of his son's bedroom. Naruto was kneeling in front of a low table upon which both of his forehead protectors –Uzushio's and Konoha's- lay neatly. The smaller blond was staring at them intently as if some sort of epiphany would come out of it. He was almost fully dressed; he had his dark gray capri pants and his long-sleeved black turtle neck over which he wore the Uzumaki-style white kimono, ending mid-thighs, with its signature large sleeves. It bore the red Uzumaki clan symbol in the back and to tie everything up, Naruto had chosen to wear a large orange obi, which also held a large scroll at his lower back. He had the standard black shinobi sandals and plated black fingerless gloves. The only thing missing, really, was the Hitai-ate.

ꞌꞌAlmost,'' Naruto replied, not taking his eyes off the two items on the table. Minato wondered which one he would choose to wear for the special occasion.

At last, the younger blond picked one up and tied it securely around his forehead. He got up to his feet and gave his father a wide grin.

ꞌꞌNow I am.''

ꞌꞌI'm surprised you chose to wear Konoha's,'' Minato admitted. His son had been wearing it since graduating from the Academy, but Minato had honestly thought the blond teen would have chosen to wear his native village's to make some sort of statement and potentially intimidate other participants of the Chunin exams.

ꞌꞌKonoha's my home now,'' the smaller blond replied simply. Minato smiled fondly and walked over to his son and ruffled the small teen's hair affectionately.

ꞌꞌThere's something I'd like to give you before you go,'' Minato said as he looked through one of his weapon pouches. He took out a three-pointed kunai and handed it to his son. ꞌꞌI've changed the design of the Hirashin seal. It's much more efficient now. I also want to change the one I placed on you, but I'm still giving you a kunai, just in case.'' Naruto nodded and thanked his father as the latter modified the seal situated at the back of his neck. ꞌꞌIf ever you feel that your life is in danger, use it, and I'll come.''

ꞌꞌI understand,'' Naruto replied with a small nod, though he didn't sound very convincing. Minato crouched down so he was on the same level as his son and placed both his hands firmly on the teen's shoulders.

ꞌꞌI'm serious, Naruto,'' Minato said firmly, staring into eyes identical to his own. ꞌꞌI don't care about the exam. I care about _you_. Forget about your pride and make sure you keep yourself _alive_ out there.'' He squeezed the teen's small shoulders slightly to emphasis his point. Naruto blinked, somewhat taken aback by his father's rather dramatic speech. The blond sobered up and nodded a second time, more focused now. He knew the chunin exams were extremely dangerous, and there was the added threat of a possible invasion.

ꞌꞌI will. I promise, dad.''

ꞌꞌGood.''

Minato rose to his full height, then grinned proudly. The tension dissipated as he did.

ꞌꞌAlright, show them what you've got, kiddo!''

ꞌꞌHell yeah!'' Naruto punched the air enthusiastically.

OoOoO

Team Seven –except their sensei- met at their usual meeting spot before going to the location of the first part of the exam. The three genins were quite nervous and excited, but kept their cool for appearances' sake. They did not plan to let other participants see any sort of weakness, especially not at such an early stage.

The first exam was taking place in an immense, but abandoned factory bordering the village, which had been refurbished for the purpose of the exams. All two hundred participants entered the building and stood in the large hall, waiting for the proctors to give their instructions.

Naruto looked around distractingly searching for his old friend Gaara. He could see the Suna siblings further down the hall. Gaara's eyes looked just as empty as they had seemed yesterday and it broke the blond's heart. Now was not the time to act, of course, but he swore to himself that he would once the time was right. Temari's gaze met his and the exchanged a silent promise.

Naruto kept looking around curiously to get a sense of his opponents and his teammates seemed to be doing the same. Konoha's Rookie Nine were definitely among the youngest participants; most seemed to be at least two years older. A majority of them looked nothing less than intimidating, but Naruto did not let that affect his spirits. After what he had been through, there was hardly anything that could scare him now.

His eyes fell on familiar figures who all seemed to be gathered around a single person with pale gray hair and round glasses. He signaled his two teammates and the three of them got closer to the little group.

ꞌꞌThat Hyuuga's team is there,'' Sasuke said lowly, narrowing his eyes and piercing a glare into Neji's back.

ꞌꞌWe'll kick his ass in the exam, so don't start a fight now,'' Naruto whispered to his friend as they approached the group.

ꞌꞌTch,'' Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. ꞌꞌHe's the one who likes to pick up fights. I'm not going to let his ridiculous teammate stop me again if he does.''

ꞌꞌI want information about Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto,'' Neji demanded. Kabuto's eyes widened at the request. He quickly hid his surprise, but his mind was racing a thousand miles an hour. He had not expected such a name to come up, and his master would undoubtedly want to know that apparently not _all_ Uzumakis had been killed.

ꞌꞌWhy don't you ask us directly, coward,'' Sasuke spat as he got closer to the Hyuuga. Neji looked up from the info card Kabuto had just given him and turned around to face him. He glared openly at both him and Naruto, then his scowl turned into a smirk.

ꞌꞌI got all I needed to know. This,'' Neji showed Sasuke his info card, ꞌꞌtells me you haven't awakened your Sharingan yet. Your skills are impressive, but not impressive enough without your bloodline to beat me.''

ꞌꞌI'll show you, fucking bastard-ꞌꞌ

ꞌꞌSasuke, please!'' Naruto said, grabbing Sasuke's arm to pull him back. Sasuke growled but willed himself to calm down since he had promised Naruto. Besides, they would probably get disqualified if they fought here. The blond turned to Neji.

ꞌꞌWhat about me? Got anything to be a jerk about?'' Naruto asked defiantly. Though he had to admit he was anxious to know if they had anything on him... especially the Kyuubi. Naruto held back a sigh of relief when he saw Neji's scowl come back.

ꞌꞌYou don't have a card at all.''

ꞌꞌGetting info on anyone from Uzushio is nearly impossible. They were very secretive and held their own exams.'' Kabuto explained. ꞌꞌAnd since the destruction...'' He trailed off, faking some sort of compassionate expression. ꞌꞌI'm glad that there were survivors.'' Naruto's eyes turned grim.

ꞌꞌAttention all participants!''

All the genins in the large entrance hall turned to the new voice at the back of the room. Several Konoha jounins and chunins were standing on an improvised stage so they could all be seen. There was one particularly intimidating jounin standing in front of them. He was the one speaking.

ꞌꞌMy name is Ibiki Morino, head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation force. I am overseeing the first part of the Chunin exams. Since there are many of you, we are dividing you in groups of ten teams. Each group will go to a different room. Above the doors around you are the lists of teams picked randomly. Proceed to your assigned room and the rest will be explained to you by the appointed proctors.''

Team Seven, like every other genin team, did as told and found their room. None of them had windows and they only had one door. Inside it were ten round tables with three chairs. No chunin or jounin was present yet. Team seven chose a table closer to the front and observed as the rest of the teams settled in. Both Shikamaru's and Neji's teams were with them, but the rest were teams from foreign villages they did not know. Naruto was somewhat disappointed that Gaara's team wasn't with them; observing him might have helped with finding out what was wrong with his seal.

Once all teams were seated, the door suddenly closed and smoke came through the bottom crack and rapidly started filling the room. Some of the genins started to panic and tried to open the door to get out, but it was locked from the outside. One of the participants was about to use an offensive jutsu to knock it down, but an unknown voice coming from an inter-communication system echoed in the room.

ꞌꞌTake your seats so we may begin the examination.''

ꞌꞌSo this is part of the exam, huh? I can tell this is going to be a huge drag,'' Shikamaru sighed and slouched on his seat. A genin team from Sand sniffed the now-dissipating smoke and stroke his chin.

ꞌꞌPoison... Isn't the first part of the exam theoretical?''

ꞌꞌTheoretical?! Naruto cried out. He had been pretty calm about the smoke, but the thought of having to answer questions –rather than just punching someone- made his head spin with worry.

ꞌꞌThat's what you're worried about?!'' Sakura exclaimed with disbelief. ꞌꞌThat guy just said we were poisoned!''

ꞌꞌB-but Sakura-chan, you know theoretical stuff isn't my strength... Crap! I'm not even going to get to _fight_ in the exams...'' Naruto whined, burying his hands in his hair, trying to repress his frustration.

ꞌꞌCalm down, dobe,'' Sasuke said with a fond smile. ꞌꞌMost of it is team-based. Just rely on us for this one.''

ꞌꞌSasuke-kun's right,'' Sakura added with her own soothing tone. ꞌꞌI'm definitely going to have to rely on you guys later on, so it's only fair.'' She was still training very hard to try and catch up to her teammates, but she had a long way to go. Naruto looked between Sasuke and Sakura hesitantly, then visibly relaxed and smiled gratefully. Sasuke was smart, but with Sakura in their team he was certain they were going to do well.

ꞌꞌThanks, guys,'' Naruto smiled and sat up straight. All participants had calmed down and gone back to their seats, but it was obvious that some were quite anxious knowing they had just been poisoned.

Morino Ibiki and an unknown chunin entered the room. The Special Jounin had a pile of papers while the other was pushing a small cart with what were undoubtedly several vials with the antidote in it. There was enough for everyone. Naruto squinted his eyes in confusion.

ꞌꞌOne more thing before I explain the test,'' Ibiki said with a sadistic smile. Sakura groaned. Of course their group just had to end up with the scariest proctor. ꞌꞌYou need to all sign this form.'' He handed the pile of papers for the chunin to pass around. As the chunin did so, Ibiki continued his explanations. ꞌꞌThe poison you've all been affected with is a debilitating one. If you choose to continue with the test, you must sign this form stating that you are aware of the consequences and will not sue our village for it. You can also choose to leave now with the antidote, but you will not be allowed to take the chunin exam for another five years.''

All participants looked at their teammates anxiously and whispers started filling the room.

ꞌꞌTo sum up,'' Ibiki said with a booming voice, silencing everyone, ꞌꞌYou can take the test to possibly earn the antidote, or leave now but delay your career.'' The genins looked at each other uneasily, some sweating and trembling with creeping anxiety. Ibiki narrowed his eyes when he saw this. Clearly, some of these younglings were too weak-minded to become chunins. ''If you fail this test, the effects of the poison will be permanent. You memory and concentration will slowly deteriorate until you become a walking zombie. The effects of the poison become irreversible after 8 hours, which is the amount of time that is allotted for this test.''

ꞌꞌOh my god... is this for real?'' Sakura gasped, gripping her long pink hair anxiously. The chunins exams for known for being extremely dangerous, with many people dying every year because of it... but she had no idea it could be this... this twisted.

ꞌꞌNo fucking way!'' A young genin from the Rain village suddenly cried out. ꞌꞌIt's not worth it, I quit!'' His teammates stared wide-eyed at him. One of the two slammed his fist on the table and glared at his teammate.

ꞌꞌYou can't do this to us!'' The young genin growled. ''If you quit, you're forcing the rest of your team to quit too!'' He added angrily, gesturing towards himself and his other, much calmer teammate.

''Shut up! I'm saving our lives here!'' The panicked one shrieked and marched hastily towards the chunin overseer. The older leaf nin hid his smirk and handed over the antidote. Everyone watched silently as the door closed heavily behind him. The Rain genin cursed and looked at his other impassive teammate, who sighed in defeat, though did not seem particularly surprised. With no other choice, they left the room as well.

''Any other cowards want to leave before we begin?'' Ibiki taunted with piercing eyes.

The competitors exchanged a variety of looks; some utterly scared, some confident, some bored... Moments later, two other teams left the room. There were now only seven teams left.

Sakura took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She could not let her fear take over her better judgement. This theoretical exam was her opportunity to show her worth. If she, of all people, chickened out, then she'd never become a chunin. She clenched her fists tightly, willing her confidence back. When she looked up to meet her two teammates' eyes, she was greeted with equal confidence.

''Then I will explain the rules of this exam,'' Ibiki said calmly. He grabbed a piece of chalk and started writing down the key information as he explained. ''Each team starts with three points. You will accumulate or lose points by answering questions. Once you reach nine points, you've earned he antidote and may leave.''

The tension left Sakura's shoulders. This should be easy. She almost felt silly for doubting herself and for letting herself be awed by the poison. She was not the only one who visibly relaxed. Ibiki smirked and continued.

''Questions are answered in rivaling pairs. The members of each team take random turns picked by us to answer questions. The one who answers correctly steals a point from the opposing team. Once a team reaches zero...'' Ibiki let the sentence linger, watching with interest the many emotions going through the participants eyes.

''B-but... but that means not even one third of the group has a chance to pass...'' Shikamaru whispered to himself, cold sweat dripping down his temples.

Meanwhile, Neji was having similar thoughts. He narrowed his eyes as the implications sunk in. _Which means, not even one third will get the antidote... all the others will be debilitated for life. This is insane!_

''I quit!'' A new genin screamed suddenly. He rose brusquely from his seat, knocking the chair down carelessly and rushing towards the Chunin's tray of antidotes. His teammates followed suite, unwilling to put their sanity at such risk.

Sasuke pressed his lips tightly together, observing as the Rock team left. He remained calm to the exterior eye, though one could still discern a cold drop of sweat trailing down his forehead.

''We're down to six teams now... which means only two can pass,'' Sasuke said quietly. He frowned. This seemed too far-fetched, even in ninja-exams standards. Had the exam been conducted in certain other villages, like the Bloody Mist, he would have not had difficulty believing it. But this was the Leaf. His village was not known for using such gruesome methods.

Naruto looked down anxiously at his clenched fists. How he wished he had been better at this theoretical stuff... Now, because of him, his team had a much higher chance of failing. If he caused his friends' doom, he'd never forgive himself.

Sasuke looked at his friend and squeezed the smaller blond's shoulder tightly.

''Stop worrying, dobe. We've got this,'' the Uchiha said firmly. He refused to let his friend inflict more grief upon himself than he already did. The blond smiled somewhat uncertainly.

''I'll do my best not to let you guys down,'' Naruto said earnestly.

Ibiki looked on, waiting for another team to give up, but none did. Six out of Ten was not a bad result at all.

''Let's begin.'' Ibiki pulled out a scroll from under his heavy coat and activated it, revealing several sealed documents. The exam questions, undoubtedly. ''First call: Uzumaki Naruto and Rock Lee''

Naruto's eyes grew the size of dinner plates. Why do I have to go first?!

''Damn it,'' Naruto cursed and slowly got up from his seat, throwing an uncertain look towards his teammates as he did.

''You can do it, Naruto,'' Sakura whispered and gave him a reassuring look. Sasuke nodded in agreement. _Lee looks like an idiot, so he might have a chance_ , Sasuke thought jokingly. Even if Naruto didn't get it, they could still pass as long as he and Sakura answered correctly.

''Yosh,'' Lee said as he walked up to the examinator. He didn't quite sound as enthusiastic as usual though. Theory hadn't been his forte either and the thought of causing other fellow leaf-genins' doom did not sit well with him.

The two leaf genins stood quietly in front of Ibiki, waiting for the first question. The tall and imposing man took one of the seal documents and unlocked it, revealing a text of an unknown language.

''During your undercover investigation in an enemy faction, you stumble upon this coded correspondence. To get you point, you must decipher the message.''

Naruto swallowed thickly. Eyes roamed over the completely incomprehensible paragraph urgently. How was he supposed to do this? Where should he start?! This looked like a completely made up language! Was it reversed? Or was it number based? What was that?!

Sakura narrowed her eyes to get a better look. She analysed the secret code, trying to figure it out and get a feel of the level of difficulty the questions were going to be. She was not the only doing this; Sasuke –and many others- were fixed on the question.

''This... it's way beyond academy level,'' Sakura whispered after a moment. She looked at Sasuke, who nodded, confirming her fears. It was not beyond her capacities, but she knew it was way out of Naruto's league...

''What the hell is this nonsense,'' Naruto muttered angrily under his breath. He looked at his opponent; he felt somewhat reassured to see Lee having a difficult time as well. Several minutes went by; the ticking of the clock was getting louder and louder in Naruto's ears. He had no idea how he was supposed to decipher the code, and the strange characters in front of him were starting to blur together.

''I...'' Lee started hesitantly, ''I think I finally figured it out.'' Naruto turned to him, lips pressed tightly together as he tried to suppress his shame.

''Let's hear it,'' Ibiki said simply.

''It's instructions for an attack with a list of supplies and information about the terrain they will be fighting on,'' Lee explained. He continued in more details, giving the exact translation for the encrypted message.

''Correct,'' Ibiki announced.

Naruto was crushed. He had not even gotten close to deciphering a _fraction_ of the message. The exam was going to be one massive humiliation... and he might end up causing his friends' failure. Because of him, his team was already down to two points.

The two leaf nins returned to their respective tables. Lee was congratulated by his female partner while the Hyuuga simply nodded approvingly. Naruto was about to apologize to his own team, but they would have none of it. Sakura promptly reassured him, saying he should just let her and Sasuke take care of it. His own talents would shine next time, that's all. Sasuke supported her and gripped his friend's shoulder once more.

Naruto smiled, but more sincerely this time. He was blessed to have such friends. He also completely trusted their capabilities.

Two more competitors were called from other villages. Team seven took this opportunity to analyze their opponents. Even though only six teams remained, those who had stayed definitely had a strong will. Even team ten seemed to be holding themselves together... in fact, they really didn't seem as anxious as they should.

''Next are,'' Ibiki paused to pick the next competitors, ''Akimichi Choji and Jinsen Kotaru.''

''We're counting on you,'' Ino said with a wink as she grabbed Shikamaru and Choji's hnds in a seemingly innocent gesture. There was a strange pause during which Ino suddenly frowned, as if from a headache. Then Choji slowly got up, expression bored and hands buried in his pockets.

''Man,'' Choji sighed, ''This is a drag.''

Team seven stared.

 _Damn it!_ Sakura cursed internally. With Ino's techniques, this test was going to piece of cake for them! Shikamaru would simply answer all the questions. So unfair! _But then, can I blame them? If it was to ensure my teammates' health and success, I'd have no problem cheating too..._

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look; their thoughts were similar to Sakura's. Cheating sounded like the right plan... but they didn't have an Ace up their sleeves like Ino's. Naruto nibbled on his bottom lip anxiously. This would decrease their chances of passing even more... Shikamaru's team was practically guaranteed to have the antidote now... which meant only one other team would get one.

Unsurprisingly, Choji, or rather, Shikamaru, answered the question correctly, stealing a point from Cloud's team.

The blond threw a look at the chunin, silently standing in front of the cart with the antidotes. _There has to be a way..._

''Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji'' Ibiki called out after two more rounds.

Sasuke clenched his fists, determined not to let Hyuuga's team rob another point from them. Both teens walked to Ibiki, though not without throwing each other nasty glares.

''Your team is on a top secret infiltration mission, but it seems your cover has been blown suspiciously fast. Why do you think that is?''

Sasuke frowned at the strange question... there were many reasons why this could have happened. Which one was Ibiki expecting?

''Easy; there is a traitor in my team. I identify and kill them,'' Neji answered almost instantly. Sasuke whipped his head towards him, incredulous. That was a very hasty conclusion. It was also needlessly harsh, even by Sasuke's standards. An enemy spy was the obvious answer, but that didn't mean that traitor was part of the actual field team; it could have been anyone from the administration office or someone of a higher rank. Also, it was much more productive to keep the traitor alive for questioning than just killing them.

Sasuke opened his mouth to make his point, but it was too late. With an unsettling smirk, Ibiki ceded the point to Neji.

''Answer accepted.''

''What?'' Sasuke protested heatedly. ''It doesn't-''

''The point has already been deducted, Uchiha,'' Ibiki said evenly. ''Go back to your seat.'' Neji chuckled lowly under his breath and walked back to his team without sparing him another glance. Sasuke was gritting his teeth, seething with anger. He willed himself not to just break a fight with the proctor. Fortunately he was rational enough to know it would be a stupid idea; he'd just get his team disqualified while getting his ass kicked in the process.

Still, this exam was getting more and more ridiculous as the hour went by. The conditions they were put under and the arbitrary questioning and answering was just madness. He was starting to question the very purpose of this exam. At first, it had just seemed like a way to test their knowledge under intense life-or-death pressure... but Neji's answer was hardly the most logical one. Had this been a fair test, Sasuke would have had a right to rebuttal.

He sat back in his chair, too angry and ashamed to meet his teammates in the eyes. He had let Naruto down especially. He had let Neji take their point –they only had one left already!- and had failed to bring reassurance to the blond on the very first try.

''Sasuke,'' Naruto called out calmly, refusing to let his best friend beat himself over this. ''You can't let this get to you... we need you to stay focused.'' _I_ need you to stay focused, Sasuke understood.

Meanwhile, Neji's teammates weren't quite as supportive. Tenten looked downright pissed while Lee just looked hurt. It was disturbing to know that their teammate was so quick to suspect and eliminate a teammate. Neji was unperturbed by their looks.

''I brought us one step closer to the antidote. Don't take these hypothetical cases so personally.'' Neji would hope his teammates knew better than to react so immaturely and unprofessionally. They should also know better than to doubt his loyalty to them. He said what he had to say in order to ensure their survival. That was all.

Ibiki observed the scene with a small satisfied smile. Tension and division. All of the participants were completely blinded by them.

After a couple more rounds, Sakura was called up and –god bless her- promptly earned team seven a point. Both Naruto and Sasuke let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding.

But next time team seven was called, it was Naruto's turn, and they were back to a single point again.

The blond wanted to pull his hair out. He knew he wasn't the academic type, but he had never felt so utterly dumb until now.

''The questions are getting harder and more subjective... The next ones aren't going to be easy,'' Sakura observed nervously as other teams competed. Points kept getting exchanged from one team to another. The only one truly standing strong was Shikamaru's team thanks to Ino's technique. They were now at eight points; only one more and team ten would walk out with an antidote. Sakura pressed her lips anxiously together. She looked over to her best friend and rival. The girl was sweating and quite pale. It was obvious that the technique was draining her energy drastically. She wouldn't be able to perform it much more. There was also the poison which was starting to affect them all. It was harder to concentrate.

But, team ten only had one more point to gain. Their victory was just one question away.

Meanwhile, hearing Sakura's words had thrown Naruto back into a hectic and nervous state. He dug his hand into his blond mane and pulled at it, hoping some sort of genius idea would come out. If Sakura thought the questions were getting hard, what could they possibly do? They didn't have a technique like Ino's or Neji's Byakugan which he had used to read Tenten's lips for a question concerning weapons... clearly, if they didn't somehow cheat the system, they'd never pass!

 _And we're not the only ones who'll get crippled from this freak show,_ Naruto thought, pulling his hair harder. _Only six of us will walk out unharmed... the rest of us... won't even be able to pursue our dreams! This is crazy!_ Naruto felt like his heart wanted to rip out of his chest _. It just isn't right!_ He turned his head and stared at the guarding chunin... The antidotes were _right there_. If only he could just take them. But if he tried... it was just impossible.

''Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino.''

Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other worriedly, then turned to Sakura. Although Sakura was doing her best to keep her cool, she was completely restless within. Even under these more than precarious conditions, she was still confident enough in her intelligence not to fear any of her opponents.

Except Shikamaru.

He was the only one who was her equal in intelligence. Team seven only had one more point left and Team Ten only needed one more to finally get out of this hell hole. And judging by the strength Ino had left, they clearly could not afford to have pity on them and cede them the point. If they did, then their points would only slowly decrease from now; neither Choji nor Ino had the capacity to answer the questions, especially now that they were getting ridiculously difficult.

Sakura stood up and walked, trembling ever so slightly. She clenched her hands and dug her nails deeply into her skin to keep her composure. Team ten could not afford to lose... well, neither could they. The fate of her team was on _her_. For once, Sakura could finally make a difference for her team, and that gave her courage. She cleared her head and stood beside Shikamaru who was in Ino's body.

Ibiki tried to contain his smirk. Of course, he knew the students had been cheating, which was fine as long as they didn't leave any proofs. This was only one of the things that were assessed in this test. Unfortunately, none of the competitors had caught on the true objective of this test, which, in Ibiki's humble opinion, was quite obvious. But these kids were inexperienced and easily destabilized. Perhaps if he heated things up a little more...

In front of him were the two smartest kids in the lot. Shikaku's kid –nothing surprising there- and that peculiar pink haired girl whose family he had never heard of. Both teams desperately needed that point. He'd make them _earn_ it.

''Here is the question: Two hundred miles north-east from the Hidden Waterfall village is rumored to be the secret hideout of a criminal organization that has been spying on several ninja villages. According to reports, the members of this organization are all rogues from Stone and Cloud village. Thirty percent of the members are female. Their most recent mission was in-''

Naruto threw a nervous look at Sasuke. Although he was doing a better job at hiding it, he could tell Sasuke was just as worried as he was. The dark haired teen turned to his teammate.

''What's the deal with this question? The others weren't as long...'' Naruto whispered.

''He's doing it on purpose,'' Sasuke explained. ''He's adding useless details to make them lose track or forget the essential information.'' _Plus, with the poison missing with our head, it's be even more difficult_ , he added to himself.

''This isn't right... this just isn't right,'' Naruto muttered to himself again. What was the point in hosting this test if it made _everybody_ fail? If it weren't for the poison, he supposed he could live with this failure, but... _At this point, I don't care about the test; I just want the antidote for my friends!_ Naruto thought to himself.

''-most of the weapons they used are made from an alloyed only found in the land of Wind.'' Ibiki dragged the question on and on. He could see the sweat pouring down the two kids' foreheads, but their concentration was absolute. Yet, he could also tell that the longer he made his question, the weaker Yamanaka's control of her jutsu was. ''Considering the above, what would be the best course of action for the villages of Cloud and Stone to arrest the group of criminals considering their respective political relationships as well as that with the village of Waterfall?''

Sakura looked at Ino's impersonator and found some comfort in the fact that Shikamaru was just as thrown off by the question as she was. This question, like many others, had many, many possible answers... yet, it would not be as easy and quick to reply. There were too many elements to take in consideration and many that could be discarded. But which? Had they remembered all the details correctly?

 _Alright, Sakura, calm down... Let's go over this quickly... Waterfall is known for-_

''D-do you think Sakura can answer that?'' Naruto asked his partner quietly.

''I think she can... she just needs to figure it out faster than Shikamaru. Then, we'll be safe,'' Sasuke replied, eyes fixed on the two genins at the front of the room. But it just didn't sit well with Naruto.

''Even if we get it... that means Shikamaru's team will probably end up losing all their points.''

This made Sasuke turned to him.

''We don't have a choice; it's us or them.''

''But-''

''That's what it'll be like on high ranked missions, Naruto... we might have to abandon teammates in order to save ourselves.''

''But that's the _opposite_ of what Kakashi-sensei taught us, you know?'' Naruto whispered back heatedly. It's not like he didn't understand situations like this; he knew plenty about sacrifice, but... ''I understand that the reality is something else, but... this is an exam, for god's sake! Why would they sacrifice potential shinobi forces for an _exam_?''

''Hey, quiet down, kid,'' the chunin guarding the antidotes said. Naruto turned to him, but didn't say anything. He just glared at the older man. His desperate blue eyes then fell on the cart which carried all the vials once again.

 _And the antidotes are right there!_

Naruto's mind went blank.

The antidotes were right there... and... there were so many of them! In fact, there were enough for everybody! Why?! If only a third of them could get them, why prepare so many?

 _Wait, maybe they made enough in case everybody decided the give up?_ But that didn't sound right.

This whole thing didn't sound right.

The exam was too hard and uselessly dangerous. Naruto simply didn't believe villages would just agree to potentially lose so many future soldiers for an exam.

He thought of what Kakashi had taught them. He wanted to save his team, but also all of his friends. Because even if they did manage to pass this test, he'd never be able to live with himself if that meant Shikamaru's team had to fall. _Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash._

Naruto abruptly rose from his seat, knocking the chair down loudly in the process. All wide eyes turned to him. He turned towards all the participants in the room.

''Listen! We don't have to go through this stupid exam!''

''Naruto-'' Sasuke started warningly, but the blond would have none of it.

''The antidotes are right there!'' He pointed towards the cart ''We might only be genins, but there's only two of them!'' He said, referring to Ibiki and the other chunin. ''Are you really willing to risk becoming a freakin' zombie? I sure am not! If we all work together, we can beat them and just _take_ the antidote!''

Whispers broke among all teams. The ones that had few or even only one point left were nodding in agreement. Others seemed more skeptical.

''If you do this, you are breaking the rules. Anyone who attacks us will be disqualified and banned from the Chunin exams and will _never_ be able to enter again.''

''Who cares!'' Naruto replied instantly. ''It's better than just sit and let our lives be played with!'' Naruto took out his kunai and turned to the crowd again. ''So who's with me?!''

Sasuke chuckled to himself and went into a fighting stance. Everything finally clicked in his brain. Naruto probably hadn't realized it, but he had actually figured out the true purpose of the exam.

''I am,'' Sasuke replied confidently.

Sakura turned to her teammates, surprise clearly written all over her face. Her eyes met with Sasuke and his nod made her understand. With all of this commotion, she had forgotten half of the information of the question anyways. She had nothing to lose and would not let her teammates down. She adopted a fighting stance as well.

''It's a drag, but at this point...'' Shikamaru –still in Ino's body- sighed and readied himself for battle.

''Then let's get those antidotes!'' Naruto exclaimed and leaped towards the chunin guarding the cart. His attack was quickly deflected. Sasuke followed and was kicked back as well, but that would not discourage them. The two genins jumped back onto their feet and charged again.

Sakura and Shikamaru rushed over to help them, but were stopped in their tracks by Ibiki who moved in front of them at blinding speed. They started to engage in combat, but were easily overpowered by the Jonin's superior skills. Shikamaru also wasn't used to this body and could feel's Ino's control slip away.

''Sh-shika... can't- hold-'' Ino trembled in Shikamaru's form until she had to let go. Ino –now back in her body- collapsed. Sakura quickly caught her fall.

''Come on, Choji,'' Shikamaru barked as soon as he was back in his own body, ''let's go get this annoying exam over with!'' Choji, who was still a little dumbstruck by the sudden turn of events, finally snapped out of his stupor and rose to his feet. Shikamaru and Choji quickly joined Sakura to defend her and Ino from harm.

''Those guys are really rebelling...'' Neji whispered to himself in disbelief. Something green moved in the corner of his eyes and he quickly turned to see Lee who was prepared to join in the fight. ''What are you doing?!'' Neji protested.

''I admire their courage and their willingness to sacrifice their career in order to save their friends. If that is _not_ the meaning of being a _true_ ninja, then I don't care to be one!'' He flashed Neji a confident and sparkling smile. ''Yosh! Let's do this!'' He jumped over the table and joined Sasuke and Naruto against the chunin; now things were starting to turn to their advantage.

''Lee's right, Neji,'' Tenten added. ''This feels much more right to me than this whole exam!'' She took out her scrolls, ready to attack as well.

''Come on guys, let's get an antidote too! If those guys aren't afraid to do it, then neither am I'' Neji turned to the speaker, a genin from a foreign village. More and more participants decided to join into the fight. Neji was forced to accept the situation he was in; he wanted to become a chunin, but his team probably wasn't going to succeed this particular test anytime soon considering the increasing level of difficulty of the questions. He had to admit that the Uzumaki was right; it was better to stay a genin and fight for his and his teammates survival; there was more honor in that.

Soon, all the participants were all up and ready to fight; many had rushed forward for offensive attacks while others had activated supportive jutsus.

And then suddenly a loud triumphant trumpet song played, stopping all the genins in their momentum. A giant canvas fell from the ceiling. It was bright orange with flashy blue writing spelling out ''CONGRATS!'' with red confettis flying around. Utterly confused, the genins turned to the proctor, who had a wide grin on his face. Ibiki looked at his watch.

''It took you longer than I expected, but at least you succeeded, and there is more of you than I thought. Congratulations, you all pass the first exam.''

''... Wait, what?'' Naruto blinked. Ibiki turned to him.

''And it's all thanks to you kid,'' Ibiki chuckled. ''Chunins are the leaders of their group; they make the decisions that can change the fate of their group for better or worse. Chunins must make decisions under precarious circumstances and motivate their subordinates to follow them no matter the risks. You, kid, were able to do that.''

''... I was?'' Naruto blinked then looked at the other genins in the room. Most of them were as confused and dumbfounded as he was. A few others however, like Sasuke and Shikamaru, actually seemed to level with the Jounin. Sasuke took a few steps closer to his blond teammate and squeezed his shoulder.

''You've actually outdone us on this one, dobe,'' he said with a smile. ''I'm impressed.''

''So... that's it?'' A genin from cloud country muttered. ''Our brains will be alright? And we'll be able to continue the exam?''

Ibiki nodded and gestured towards the chunin and stepped aside so everyone could grab an antidote.

''That's right. All it took was for one of you to catch on. Dire situations bring out true character. We wanted to see who you _really_ are. All of you joined into the fight, so you all pass. If some of you had decided to stay back, they would be the ones to have failed. We wouldn't have let the poison affect you, obviously; we're not willing to dispose our young forces so easily... besides, the rest of the exam is there for that; there will be other times where you will show us whether or not you have the physical qualifications to be a chunin. This test was about having the guts. So you pass.''

''Wow,'' Sakura breathed out, shoulders slopping with relief. She turned towards Naruto and threw him a wide grin. ''Turns out _you_ were the one to make us pass this one!'' Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

''Wow... thanks, haha,'' Naruto's faced reddened under all the grateful stares. He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

OoOoO

Team seven was walking out of the building along with several other teams from different rooms. Some of the genins were still doing the exam, while others had come out a while ago. Team seven was discussing this particular test and predicting what the others might be. This truly had opened their eyes to the type of challenges they might face and that not everything would be as they seemed. _Look underneath the underneath,_ Kakashi would say.

''Still, I would have liked to know who would have answered the question first; you or Shikamaru. You both are super smart, but I always wonder who's the best, you know?'' He turned to his female teammate. ''I personally think you're the best, Sakura-chan!'' The girl chuckled.

''I'm actually glad you interrupted us... that was way too much pressure on me. Besides, we might be both smart, but we're different kinds of smart. I know a lot of stuff, but Shikamaru is better at analysing situations than me... so it's hard to say. I think I had a better understanding of what all the variables, but Shikamaru might have found the answer faster than me. So I'm happy it turned out the way it did.''

''I agree,'' Sasuke replied simply. ''I should have figured things out sooner. It makes way more sense from that perspective; the situation they had put us under was just way too unnecessarily extreme, now that I think about it. I've just always heard about the chunin exams being so hard that I thought that was it.''

''Hey, wait up!'' They heard Ino's unsteady voice call out. Team seven turned towards team ten who was jogging to catch up to them. Ino was still looking quite weak and pale, but at least she had woken up from her sleep. She turned her admiring eyes towards Naruto. Sasuke rolled his eyes; _there she goes again._

''What you did was so cool, Naruto-kun! You basically saved us all! You were the first to figure out the true purpose of the test!''

''I gotta say, I'm impressed too,'' Shikamaru said nonchalantly, hands buried in his pockets. ''You're actually smarter than I thought. Were your grades in school just a fluke or something?''

''Heh?'' Naruto blinked. ''I'm not sure I'm following you.'' Sasuke, beside him, started snickering.

''You got it all wrong,'' Sasuke explained. ''Naruto isn't smart-''

''-hey!'' The blond punched his friends arm, but the latter ignored him.

''-he's just good at doing the right thing.'' Naruto's glared melted into surprise, then fondness. Shikamaru looked back and forth between the two.

''Then... you hadn't figured it out? You just took the risk and rebelled?''

''I guess I did,'' Naruto laughed nervously, embarrassment rushing back to his cheeks again.

''You really are something,'' Shikamaru chuckled.

OoOoO

''So, how did the test go?'' The Third Hokage asked, sitting calmly at his desk. All the proctors from the first test were present... except two. ''Where are Seto and Watanabe?''

The proctors exchanged sad looks. Morino Ibiki was the one to step forward and explain.

''They were killed,'' he stated simply. Sarutobi nearly dropped his pipe.

''Killed?!''

''Yes,'' Ibiki nodded and continued. ''The test had almost just started. One of the genins killed them both and walked out of the room and grabbed an antidote on his way... the others were completely thrown off but eventually did the same and left.''

''Let me guess,'' Sarutobi said gravely, expression sober. ''It was the Ichibi's container, the genin from Sand village.'' Ibiki nodded.

''How should we respond?'' One of the other proctors asked.

''Normally,'' Sarutobi sighed. ''He technically didn't break any rules. The point was for them to rebel and take the antidote for themselves... he succeeded the test. All those in that room pass as planned.''

''But-''

''That is my order,'' Sarutobi interrupted firmly. ''I am deeply saddened to have already lost two good shinobis, but such is life. Our time to fight back hasn't come yet. If the Kazekage truly has planned to do to us what he did to Uzushio, then I have no doubt he will manifest himself. We cannot attack without proof. We will wait for him to strike first and we will be ready.''

The shinobi's expressions grew more serious and determined. They nodded in agreement with the Kage.

''Every action that this child poses gives us a better understanding of the situation with his seal. We must report every detail to Uzumaki Minato-san so he and his son can plan their move. If anyone can deal with the Ichibi's jailer, it's them. Until they are ready, we must concentrate on our own counter attack against our enemy.''

''Yes, sir!''

OoOoO

Sakura had parted from her teammates to go back home. The two boys were left to share part of the journey home before their own separation. They were both exhausted, now that the adrenaline rushed had finally subsided. They wanted nothing more than to crash onto their bed. Thus they didn't say much until they reached the intersection at which their paths diverted. Naruto was about to say goodbye, when Sasuke interrupted him before he did.

''I'm proud to be your friend,'' Sasuke said sincerely. _You never cease to surprise me._

''.. thanks,'' Naruto finally said, slightly taken aback by the sudden confession. His cheeks were tickling slightly. He never thought his action today would warrant so many praises. After initial surprise, Naruto smiled brightly.

''You were the first to follow, so it means a lot to me,'' the blond said. And he meant every word. He already knew Sasuke trusted him, but it always felt good to see that trust incarnated.

Sasuke said nothing. He simply returned the smile with his more modest one and waved goodbye to his friend. Naruto did the same and both walked away to go home.

On his way, though, Naruto passed by a near-empty park where he could see a familiar figure sitting on one of the swings. Curious, the blond took several steps closer and finally recognized her. It was Temari. He wanted to call out her name, but he saw that she was deep in thought and her eyes were red and puffy. She had clearly been crying.

He took slow, careful steps towards her until she finally noticed his presence. She didn't say anything and simply waited until he was sitting beside her on another swing.

Naruto wasn't sure what to say. Temari provided the icebreaker.

''We passed the first test...'' Temari clearly didn't look happy about it, so Naruto guarded himself from congratulating her. ''Thanks to Gaara.''

Naruto swallowed thickly.

''He just killed them. They didn't even ask the first question. As soon as they had explained the rules, Gaara just raised his hand like this,'' she imitated his brother's gesture. She raised her hand slowly and clenched her fist. ''And they were gone...''

Naruto looked down to his lap. His heart ached for the sand siblings.

''My brother's gone...''

''He's not,'' Naruto reassured firmly. ''The roles were just reversed; now Gaara is the prisoner and Shukaku's taking control. We can save him just like we did back then.''

Temari's expression softened a little bit. Her eyes turned more hopeful. Naruto was right: Gaara had been saved once, so he could be saved again.

''What can I do?'' She asked, determined.

''Tell me everything. Tell me all the details of when he started acting like this again. Even the details you find useless might help.''

She nodded and proceeded to tell him everything.

OoOoO

''Have a seat,'' Sarutobi told his guest politely. The tall blond man did as told and sat in front of the Hokage's desk. It was quite late in the evening and the Hokage tower was nearly empty.

''Let me first congratulate you on your son's success,'' the old man said with a smile. ''You must be proud.''

''Very,'' Minato replied earnestly. The Third chuckled and took a deep breath into his pipe. His demeanor changed slightly.

''You also must have heard of what happened with the One-Tail's jinchuriki. Minato nodded. ''I'd like your thoughts on this.''

''Right,'' Minato said with a deep sigh. ''My son met Gaara's sister on his way home. He told me some interesting information. The most important one being the timing of Gaara's change in behaviour. It started almost immediately after Uzushio was destroyed.''

''Interesting... do you think the Kazekage discovered some documents there that could have helped him to toy with the seal?'' Minato shook his head.

''Impossible. No one was able to steal from Uzushio's library; Naruto and I confirmed this on our trip there.''

''What about the mask?''

''It's a dangerous item, but it can't be used in this way.''

''Do you have a theory, then?''

Minato stroke his chin, deep in thought. He did have one idea... it was a stretch but it was the only explanation he could think of.

''I think the Kazekage is actually an imposter.'' Sarutobi's eyes went wide. ''No one in Sand village has the ability to modify the seal Kushina put on Gaara. If anyone in Sand –or their allies- did, then they would have done so before the attack on Uzushio so they could use Gaara against us. And no matter how desperate the Kazekage is, he would never plan an attack on Konoha so soon after Uzushio. It just doesn't make sense.''

''I see...'' The Third nodded. ''Do you think it might be a traitor from Uzushio? Someone within the village took the opportunity during the attack to take the Kazekage's place?''

''It's a possibility... Someone from Uzushio could have easily done this to Gaara's seal, but I really don't see who could have done this. And to take the Kazekage's place... I don't think an Uzushio-nin could have done this,'' he explained. ''Have you met the Kazekage yet?''

''I have, briefly. I saw nothing suspicious. I don't think the imposter's using a genjutsu, otherwise I would have sensed it. Something along mind control –like the Yamanaka's techniques- is more plausible.''

''So... the impersonator, or someone close to them, have strong abilities in sealing, they can potentially control the mind of the Kazekage or take on his appearance undetected and hold a grudge against Konoha. They obviously don't care about Suna's forces; they know that attacking Konoha would ruin Suna, even if they won with the help of their allies.''

Sarutobi took a deep breath from his pipe again. He expelled the smoke with a sigh, eyes closed in concentration. After a moment, he opened them and stared at the blond man.

''I think I know who it is.''

* * *

 **Notes:**

For SL readers who are wondering why I decided to stop Silver Lining where I did and continue the story as a separate fic is because WWB will have a different focus and different format.  
 **SL** was about 1. exploring Uzushio and giving it a history/culture, 2. Naruto coping with its destruction and adapting to Konoha. 3. Mostly family/friendship-focused  
 **WWB** will focus solely on Konoha and will 1. not contain anymore flashbacks from Naruto's childhood 2. be in chronological order 3. look at budding romantic feelings between Sasuke and Naruto.

Hope that answers some questions. :)


	2. Light in the Tunnel

**Note:** Bless your patience, guys. This is more of a ''building up for what's coming''-kind of chapter, but hopefully still entertaining enough for your reading pleasure!

* * *

 **Where the Wind Blows**

 _Light in the Tunnel_

ꞌꞌYou did very well, Karin-chan.'' Orochimaru chuckled cruelly and patted the quiet redhead's shoulder.

He put away the blood samples carefully for further examinations, but this particular experiment was yet another resounding success. He had known of the Uzumaki clan's incredible vitality, but Karin was truly one of a kind. No matter how resilient the Uzumaki were, none could have survived the state they had found the girl in, the night of the clan's execution. He did not regret bringing her with him.

At first, with her special chakra-infused blood, he had created serums that had rejuvenated his body beyond what his previous experiments and jutsus had been able to do. Their effects were only temporary, but the more he conducted his experiments, the more he thought possible to finally unlock the secret of immortality. His latest experiment was another testament of that. Last week, he had injected a deadly disease into the young girl. She had been in a very dire state at some point, and Orochimaru almost thought that this would be the end of it. However, much to his delight, he had found the young teen almost completely recovered this morning. He looked forward to see how the cells had reacted in those blood samples. He chuckled darkly once more.

The evil scientist turned to his other subject; Suigetsu. He had to admit he had completely lost interest in this one, since Karin's appearance. Though he was certain Suigetsu didn't mind not being experimented on.

''It would have been much easier if you had acted like her, Suigetsu-kun. See how obedient she is? She is stronger and smarter than you are. She must be rewarded. Take her to a more comfortable room and bring her warm food.''

''Tch,'' Suigetsu wanted to spit on the mad man's face. Not so long ago, he might have done so, but he knew better now, and that's what made him so angry. He was weak; much weaker than Orochimaru. The dark haired man left the room with his equipment, leaving him to deal with the passive girl.

He hated the redhead almost as much as his captor. He couldn't stand people like her. She had not fought back even once since her arrival in this hellhole. She hadn't even spoken; all he had heard of her voice were the screams and whimpers of pain. She just endured everything silently, as if waiting to die.

''Come on, get on your feet,'' Suigetsu growled as he pulled her up harshly. She followed him quietly, her steps slow and legs trembling from the illness' lingering effects.

As instructed, Suigetsu brought her to a decent room and put the chains back on her ankles, not that he thought those were necessary anyways. She had Orochimaru's chakra-blocking seal, the anti-escape seal, and apparently no will to escape at all anyway. The girl sat the the bed and stared into nothing. Suigetsu clenched his fists. Just what the hell was her problem?!

''Why aren't you even trying?'' He gritted his teeth together in anger. She wasn't even looking at him. ''Don't you want to get the hell out of here?! Don't you have any pride?!''

Empty, dark red eyes turned to him.

''What's the point?'' She said quietly. Everybody was dead. What used to be a blessing became a curse; her ability had kept her away from her family. She should have died with them. At least, they would be together. She _had_ tried to kill herself, but Orochimaru had kept her alive. All she could do was wait.

''What fucking kind of stupid question is that?!'' He wanted to slap her, shake her until she came to her senses, but he knew that would be in vain. He cursed angrily under his breath. He willed himself to calm down.

''What if I help you? We could get out of here, both of us. We aren't strong enough against Orochimaru... but he'll be busy with his stupid plan against the leaf. Now's our chance to escape! So what if you don't care about what happens to you... at least you can decide your fate once you're out of here!''

Karin stared at him for a moment. For the first time since she arrived here, she could feel something stir within her. _Decide my own fate, huh?_ She supposed he was right. If she got out of here, then at least she would truly be able to end it all, without Orochimaru interfering. But she still lacked the strength and the will... she was just so tired. After almost a year, she had sort of gotten used to all of this.

''Look,'' Suigetsu sighed heavily. ''Just think about it, okay?'' He turned and walked towards the door to get the teen her food. ''But make up your mind quickly. Orochimaru will leave soon for Konoha. It'll be our best shot.''

Karin watched Suigetsu leave, now alone with her thoughts. In a way, she admired him. He was alone here, like her, and had kept his pride and strength, even though he was probably only fifteen or sixteen, like her. She looked down at her hands. In each of her palms were the seals Orochimaru had placed on her. Without her fuuinjutsu, she was useless. She doubted she would be of any help in their attempted escape.

OoOoO

''Excellent, very good, Naruto,'' Minato said quietly. He observed his son's progress carefully, ready to interfere should things go out of hand, as they so often did with this particular training. Naruto had made considerable progress with controlling the Kyuubi's chakra and he really felt that today was going to be a groundbreaking moment. ''Now, when you think you've reached balance, try performing the technique I told you about.''

Naruto replied with a simple nod. Both father and son were training in an isolated area outside of the village. The small blond was sitting in a meditating posture, but his aura was quite far from his state of mind. Red, fiery chakra was surrounding him with an almost chocking heat and strength. The Kyuubi was resisting his control, but the seal had the ultimate grasp on it. Still, it made controlling the raw power even mroe difficult to manage. He focused on controlling the flow of the power; he thought of himself as a dam and experimented on how much he should close or open the trap in order to perform the sealing technique he wanted to do.

After a long moment, he finally found it; the perfect balance. He opened his blood red eyes, focused on nothing other than his immediate purpose. He rose to his feet and the grass around him burned. He did a quick series of hand signs and slammed his hands to the ground.

'' **Yin Release: Jigokumon, The Great Gate of Hell!** '' His voice was laced with the Kyuubi's demonic power, but his mind was clear and focused. From the sky, a gigantic, black temple gate slammed onto the ground with a resounding bam and gust of wind. It was the very technique his mother had used to hold down Shukaku back when she had redesigned Gaara's seal. Now that he had finally mastered this technique, the chances of his success were increasing. Naruto couldn't hold back a sharp-teethed smile. If he could accomplish this much, maybe he could release his chains successfully too!

He extended his arms and let the chains emerge from his palms. However, the trength of them was more than Naruto could handle after just performing another high-ranking technique. They flew in all directions and Naruto was unable to summon them back.

Minato did not waste his time. He slammed the paper seal onto Naruto's forehead, as he had done many times before, and caught his son's still form before he hit the ground. He let out a long sigh. He wanted to scold his son for pushing his limits too much, but he really couldn't blame him for trying. At least they knew he could pull off his mother's sealing technique; it'll be a great help when the time comes. He rose to his feet, his unconscious son in his arms.

''You can come out now, sensei,'' Minato said with a smile. Jiraiya promptly made his appearance and grinned at his old student.

''Since when did you notice?''

''Since the beginning. I wanted Naruto to stay focused so I didn't say anything,'' he replied with a smile. His master did the same.

''I stayed hidden for the same reason. Still, Minato, don't you think you stopped him a little too early?'' Minato raised a severe eyebrow at that.

''Too early? He was losing control. You saw it yourself,'' he explained, frowning at his sensei.

''He had _just_ lost control of his chains... you didn't even gave him time to try and get it back. Your wanting to keep him safe will slow him down, Minato,'' Jiraiya replied, perhaps a little more harshly than he had intended. Minato did not react; he hardly ever did in such times.

''I'd rather he'd progress slowly and safely, than putting his life at risk for the sake of power.'' Jiraiya sighed at that. He was not at all surprised. He couldn't really blame him either. He had always been overprotective of Naruto, but after everything he had gone through, it had probably gotten worse.

''I understand,'' he said at last. He knew nothing would change his old pupil's mind. _Still,_ he thought, _with the potential dangers Naruto and the rest of the village are facing right now, taking at least some risks is necessary._ ''Let's bring the kid home and you can brief me on the situation around a glass of sake.''

''Sure,'' Minato chuckled.

OoOoO

''I didn't expect you back so soon, Kabuto,'' Suigetsu heard Orochimaru's slime voice as he walked through the corridor with Karin's food.

''I came back as fas as I could... I have interesting news regarding the Uzumaki clan,'' Kabuto replied rather restlessly. There was a short moment of silence. Even Suigetsu froze in his steps. Then, he slowed down as he approached the door, listening carefully.

''It seems Karin isn't the only survivor. There's another kid... he's in Uchiha Sasuke's team.'' The pale blue haired teen suppressed a gasp. He wanted to stop and listen more, but he knew they would notice and punish him if he lingered. He tried to catch as much as he could.

''He doesn't look like he belongs to the clan, but there's no doubt about it. I thought you should know; it might complicate things when you try to take over the Uchiha's...''

The voices became fainter and fainter as he walked away... So Karin wasn't alone after all. If he told her, it was bound to convince her to try and escape. He quickened his pace again and hurried to Karin's room.

There, he found the redhead exactly as he had left her. Sitting on the bed, looking at nothing in particular.

He put the tray down on the small table next to the bed and looked at her.

''I heard Kabuto and Orochimaru talking,'' he started lamely, unsurprised to see absolutely no reaction from her. ''Kabuto said he saw another survivor of your clan,'' he continued, this time faced with wide, disbelieving red eyes. ''He must have seen him in Konoha, since that's where he's assigned right now.''

Karin trembled as the news sunk in. She had seen the massacre of the whole village with her own eyes... and Orochimaru had made it quite clear that no one else had survived the attacked, most certainly not from her clan, as they had been the primary target.

''It's impossible,'' Karin said in a ragged voice, emotion choking her throat.

''Kabuto wouldn't relay false information to Orochimaru; he's not stupid enough to do that. Who knows what the psycho would do to him if it turned out to be false.''

Karin was forced to admit that Suigetsu had a point. Both captives knew them both well enough for that. Hope began to rise within her heart. She could feel her true self crawl back again and try to brake free of the shell she had built around herself.

''W-what else did you hear?'' She asked urgently.

''Not much, I'm afraid,'' Suigetsu said guiltily. ''I didn't dare stop to listen,'' he added. Karin thought it had been a wise decision. ''I only heard that he's a kid and that he apparently doesn't look like an Uzumaki... Whatever that means.''

''...doesn't... look...?'' She repeated dumbly. A kid... who doesn't look like an Uzumaki? Images of her younger cousin flashed in her mind. She remembered clearly when her blond cousin had been captured by the enemy that fateful night. She had thought him dead for sure... but with this information, she had no doubt. If the person in question was indeed and Uzumaki and not simply another inhabitant of Uzushio, then no one else fit the description. Naruto had literally been the only one in the clan without red hair.

A wide, grateful smile streched her dry lips. She could feel her eyes moisten up. She clasped her hands over her mouth, muffling a sob and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Now was not the time. She was still here, in this gloomy facility... still a prisoner and a guinea pig for a madman's experiments. She would only allow herself to be happy once she was out of here and saw her beloved cousin with her own eyes.

Suigetsu looked away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He had been caught off guard by Karin's reaction... especially her smile. She looked like a whole different person when she smiled. He turned when he heard the fabric of the bed rustling. She had gotten up and was walking towards him, he eyes suddenly clear and focused.

''We're getting out of here.''

OoOoO

''I see... so the old man thinks Orochimaru is behind this,'' Jiraiya sighed, cheeks a little red from the alcohol.

''He certainly fits the profile,'' Minato replied, looking down at his own glass. ''He is skilled enough in sealing to mess up the One-Tail's, he holds a grudge against Konoha and he was most probably there during the invasion, since we're almost certain that Sound was part of it. That's probably when he took over the Kazekage.''

''Yes... I don't see who else it could be. Well, at least we know who we are facing, but it certainly won't be easy.''

''We've been preparing a counter attack accordingly. But it's hard to guess when he'll strike.''

''Why not attack him first?''

''Hokage-sama thinks that if we do, Orochimaru will back down from his plan and accuse Konoha of treason'' Minato explained bitterly, frowning in disapproval. Jiraiya chuckled at that.

''How unlike you,'' Minato's old sensei replied with a smile. ''Sensei is wise; he knows what is best for the village. I'm surprised you disagree.''

''I understand why Sarutobi thinks this way, I really do, but...'' Minato trailed off, looking towards the stairs that led to Naruto's room. ''He's trying to preserve the village's position, but he's also putting it at risk,'' he continued, looking back at his sensei. ''I even suggested that I go rogue and go after him myself, but he flatly refused.''

Jiraiya shrugged.

''You _could_ go rogue and abandon the village to do that if you wanted to; you don't need the old man's permission,'' Jiraiya looked at his student pointedly. The blond man pressed his lips together and said nothing. ''But you would never leave your son, so you won't. You're not thinking this through rationally, Minato. It's unlike you. I understand how you're feeling, but the Hokage's decision is right. If we attack first and Orochimaru does as he guessed and accuses our village under the Kazekage's disguise, then the other nations will act upon the treaty and attack us. We need to be acting in our defence if we want to preserve ourselves.''

Minato let out another long sigh.

''I understand.'' Jiraiya laughed and pat the younger man's back.

''Of course you do, you're a smart guy.'' Minato finally let the corner of his lips lift up slightly, then took a sip of sake. The burning sensation helped sooth his anger. ''Now, knowing Orochimaru, he probably has another motive. If he really just planned on attacking us, I think he would have done so by now. I don't think he plans on attacking before he's reached that other goal. All we gotta do is keep an eye open to try and figure it out. Then, we'll know when he plans to attack.''

''You're right,'' Minato agreed with a nod. Nothing was ever simple with Orochimaru. ''We've got some time. The Kazekage won't come back until the second part of the exam. The first one just finished recently, so we have around another three weeks. Until then, we're preparing the counter attack and I'm also training with Naruto to prepare in case we have to face Shukkaku. I'm hopping Naruto and I can fix Gaara's seal before it happens, but we never know.''

Jiraiya crossed his arms and nodded as he listened to his pupil.

''Very well. To maximize our time, you should allow me to train Naruto personally whenever you're working with the Hokage.''

Minato blinked a few times at that, then looked at his sensei suspiciously.

''I know how you work, sensei... I'm not sure I want you to use your methods on Naruto.''

''Stop being such an overbearing father, for heaven's sake!'' Jiraiya declared. ''And don't worry, I promise I won't be too harsh on him.'' Minato hesitated, but gave in before long. They could certainly use the extra help. Besides, he could teleport to Naruto whenever he wanted. If anything happened, he'd be there in a flash.

''Alright, thank you.''

''Great! I've been wanting to spend some quality time with my adorable godson for a while. This is perfect, hahaha!'' He laughed obnoxiously and took another good sip from his drink. Minato frowned again until a vein popped on his forehead.

''One more thing; you're not allowed to use Naruto's cute looks to attract women, are we clear?'' Minato warned with an accusing finger. That certainly sobered up Jiraiya, who suddenly looked very disappointed. It seems Minato had taken on the role of Kushina to interfere with his 'research' since her passing.

''Alright,'' Jiraiya exhaled through his teeth.

The doorbell rang after a while, breaking the two men's conversation. Minato got up and was not very surprised when he saw Sasuke standing there. He smiled at the young teen and invited him in.

''I was supposed to meet with Naruto for training but he wasn't at our spot,'' the Uchiha explained.

''Yes, I'm afraid our training session earlier went a little astray again. He's resting in his room.''

''Hey, it's that Uchiha kid,'' Jiraiya suddenly said as he walked into the dining room, where the doorway of the apartment was. ''Naruto's still friends with you? Eh, who would have thought, hahaha!'' Jiraiya joked boastfully, still remembering how utterly dull and quiet Sasuke's company had been during their trip to Uzushio. He still couldn't fathom how his cheerful and chatty nephew could be friends with such a grave an quiet boy.

''You know what they say; you can't choose your family, but you can at least choose your friends,'' Sasuke replied nonchalantly with a smirk. Jiraiya's mocking smile turned sour and an angry vein suddenly popped on his forehead. _What in the hell does Naruto see in him?!_

''Why you little-''

''Naruto's been asleep for a while now, so I'm sure he's about to wake up. Would you like to wait in his room?'' Minato suddenly interrupted, tried to avoid the fight that was about to break out. He had never understood that silly feud between his sensei and Naruto's friend. It seemed rooted in some sort of strange jealousy that nobody -not even Naruto- understood.

''Yeah, thanks,'' Sasuke replied then walked upstairs towards Naruto's room, completely ignoring Jiraiya's irritated look on the way. Minato let out a small sigh, then a chuckle.

''I'll bring them some snacks then we can continue our discussion. We're due to see the Hokage soon anyway,'' Minato explained as he fixed a plate of snacks and some iced tea for the boys.

''Yeah, sure,'' Jiraiya said as he walked back to the living room. ''Bring more sake on your way back!''

OoOoO

Sasuke had nibbled on the snacks at first then forgot them in favour of staring at Naruto's sleeping face. It was becoming more frequent now to find Naruto in this state; unconscious and also often injured from the intense training he was going through. Sasuke often wondered how the small blond could bear all of these burdens with such courage. It frustrated him to no end that all he could do was watch and wait. Naruto was basically all he had left in this world and he couldn't even help him.

''Hn...'' Naruto moved and frowned in his sleep, before finally opening his eyes. He blinked away the light before turning his gaze onto the silhouette next to him. When his sight cleared up, he blinked again curiously at his friend, then threw him a pointed look.

''You don't have to wait for me to wake up every time, you know?'' The blond chuckled then sat up on his bed. Sasuke only shrugged as a reply. Then, he grabbed the plate of fruits and took a for himself before showing it to Naruto.

''Hungry?''

''Yeah!'' Naruto cheered and instantly forgot about Sasuke's odd behaviour, grabbed a small sandwich and devoured it.

''Did you make any progress?'' Sasuke asked the blond casually.

''I did!'' Naruto answered proudly. ''And I'd make more if my dad wasn't so panicky. I wish he'd make me try longer before stopping the Kyuubi... It's like he doesn't trust me,'' Naruto continued with a pout. He took an angry bit in his sandwich.

''He's just worried about you. I'd be too, if I was in his place.''

''Yeah, yeah, I know...'' Naruto sighed. He turned to grab the glass of iced tea on his bedside table when he noticed the time on his alarm. ''I'm supposed to pay Juki-chan a visit soon. Do you want to tag along?''

Sasuke repressed a scowl. Visiting Juki meant there was a good chance of running into Neji, whom he definitely didn't want to see. His very aura screamed arrogance and bitterness. It's not like Sasuke didn't understand where the guy was coming from. In fact, there was a time when Sasuke himself had been just as unpleasant as the Hyuuga, and perhaps that was what was pissing him off so much. He was lucky Naruto had been there to make him understand there were better ways to deal with grief and injustice. It was high time that Neji saw that too. Maybe if he punched him hard enough...

Anyways, it's not like he could say no to Naruto. Especially when he was so enthusiastic about something.

''Why not,'' he replied. ''Are you sure you're well enough to go?'' Naruto promptly dismissed his concern.

''Of course! I've been out for what...'' he threw his alarm o'clock a quick glance, ''two hours? I'm pumped! So let's go!''

OoOoO

As the duo walked towards the Hyuuga compound, they recognized many chunins and jounins on duty, both in uniforms and undercover. Which each passing day during the exam, the tension seemed to be rising as well. If Sand village and its allies truly decided to strike -which was very likely judging by Gaara's changed behaviour- it could be any time.

At last they reached the main entrance where they saw Hinata waiting for them. Her usually meek but agreeable demeanour looked much more gloomy now. Something was up.

''Hey, Hinata, what's up?'' Naruto asked quietly; definitely not as cheerful as usual. He didn't like the apologetic look the girl was giving him.

''I was asked to tell you to come back another time, Naruto-kun... Juki-chan and Tokuma-san are busy with the clan heads,'' she mumbled, unable to look into Naruto's eyes.

''Is something wrong?'' Naruto asked worriedly. The Hyuuga bit her lips nervously, debating whether or not she should tell the blond. It would devastate him no doubt, but he'd find out sooner or later.

''They're made their decision regarding Juki-chan's future... I-it's not what you and Tokuma-san wanted, I'm afraid...''

Sasuke looked worriedly at his blond friend. His face was frozen in a mix of shock and pain. The young Uzumaki clenched his fists and repressed and frustrated growl. He looked back to Hinata and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to meet his eyes.

''You have to bring me to them, please! I have to talk to them!''

''I-I... I can't-''

''Hinata-'' a fourth voice interrupted. It was Neji. _Of course it's him,_ Sasuke thought bitterly. ''Let them in. It's not like it'll change anything anyway. It'll be good for the Uzumaki to face the truth.''

''But-'' Hinata tried to protest. If her father knew she had let them in, he'd be angry at her.

''Tell your father it was me. Now come on,'' Neji looked towards Naruto and Sasuke with a smirk. ''I'll show you where they are.''

Sasuke wanted to beat him to a pulp like never before. He simply couldn't stand his attitude. He looked towards Naruto, thinking he might have to stop the blond from charging at the other teen, but to his surprise, Naruto merely looked annoy.

''Whatever, just tell me where to go,'' Naruto spat impatiently as he rushed inside the compound. Sasuke hurried behind him. Clearly, the blond had more urgent things to care about than the annoying Hyuuga. Sasuke applauded the blond's self control.

The four teens walked along the many pavilions od the compound until they reached a more massive one in its centre, where clan meetings and other events were held. Once there, Neji said he was not allowed in and didn't think Sasuke should go either. Only Naruto had business there anyway, so they parted ways.

''How about you and I have a friendly spar while your friend gets disillusioned about the Hyuuga clan?'' Neji challenged the Uchiha with the same permanent smirk he nearly always wore. It sometimes changed for a scowl, but more rarely.

''With pleasure,'' Sasuke replied through his teeth.

OoOoO

''Who let you in?!'' Hiashi asked loudly with a deep frown on his face.

The room was so large and austere that it looked empty despite the several clan members scattered around it. Hiashi, the clan head, as well as elders and other important members stood on elevated step at the end of the room. Behind them, one large artwork representing the Byakugan's field of divination. Further down the room, kneeling and holding a red haired toddler was Tokuma, looking nearly as devastated as he had been when he had found Uzumaki Risa's dead body in Uzushio. The sight told Naruto that the worst possible scenario had happened.

Two branch-house Hyuugas grabbed Naruto's arms firmly and started dragging him out of the large meeting room. The blond teen struggled viciously and shout to the clan head.

''Let me talk! I have a right to!''

''How?'' Hiashi said more calmly this time, though still keeping a severe scowl on his face. ''You are not closely related by blood.''

''I represent her clan, so I have a right to speak!'' Naruto continued to struggle but a gesture from Hiashi was all it took for them to let him go. It seemed he had irritated the man just enough to listen to him properly.

''Her _clan_ , you say? Her clan is the _Hyuuga_ clan,'' Hiashi stated, then took a deep breath. He disliked having this kid barge into this crucial meeting, but he would not allow himself to lose his self-control.

Naruto swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling pressure from all the white and severe stares he was getting. Tokuma was looking at him with compassion, but also with clear resignation. He must have argued with them so many times without any success. But there was just no way he could convey the importance of the Uzumaki legacy the way Naruto could. He steeled his resolve and walked to face the clan head. He then looked at little Juki, who was cluelessly mouthing a toy, unaware of how drastically her life could change with just a word from Hiashi. The proud Uzumaki clenched his fists then looked back at the old men before him.

''The Hyuuga clan is strong and prosper... My clan...'' Naruto trailed off, biting his lips. ''My clan is on the brink of extinction. I received my name from my mother, who got it from hers and so on... The Uzumaki clan is stemmed in its female bloodline; it's a well-known fact! If you strip Juki from her name and curse her, it's going to be the end of the Uzumaki clan as it has always been! Why do that? She will always be loyal to your family because you're the only one she has! I know she will be a great fighter; if she wasn't, she wouldn't have been born. But she'll also be a great Fuinjutsu user; I'll make sure of that. Why not let her carry out Uzushio's legacy? She'll honour your clan regardless!''

There was a long silence. The clan-head's expression was as hard to read as ever. In its younger members in the room -especially the branch members- he could see sympathy in their eyes, but the elders' were as cold and unconcerned as before.

At last Hiashi let out a heavy sigh and crossed his arms.

''I respect your clan and how you want to preserve its past glory as much as possible. I truly do.'' Naruto gritted his teeth. _I'll show you_ _'past glory'_. He wanted to fight him, but restrained himself. Even he knew it would be suicidal at this point. ''So I am willing to compromise.''

Naruto's bright blue eyes grew wide with hope. Some of the elders protested heatedly, whispering harshly to Hiashi, but the latter silenced them quickly.

''Our of respect, I will let her bare the name Uzumaki until she turns six, at which point it will change for Hyuuga as she receives the Cursed Seal.''

''Six years old?!'' One of the elders cried out indignantly. ''But children are branded at three!''

Naruto's expression turned confused at first, then he slightly shook his head, like had had heard wrong. This was a joke, right? This was his idea of a 'compromise'? It... It couldn't be...

He looked down at that floor, then his mind finally cleared up as if it had been in a daydream. He was trembling with rage. He looked back towards the elders, unaware that his eyes had turned a bloody shade of red. He pointed a defying finger at him, hand still shaking slightly. He struggled to fin the proper words and swallowed the insults that were coming to his mind. He needed to stay somewhat composed if he wanted to maintain any sort of weight in this conversation.

''Whatever seal you put on her, I'll just destroy it,'' Naruto asserted through sharp teeth. Hiashi narrowed his eyes at this. He still didn't know what exactly was this strange ability that the blond seemed to possess, but it definitely darkened the aura of the small blond. Regardless, it didn't change anything.

''I highly doubt you have the skills to do that, even as an Uzumaki,'' Hiashi said evenly. It was not an insult; simply a fact.

''I do and I will!''

''Then why don't you do it right now?'' Hiashi defied the blond, crossing his arms over his chest. He glanced at Tokuma, then back to Naruto. ''Undo her father's seal, then.''

Naruto blinked, not expecting this at all. The other Hyuugas in the room were just as stunned. Even the elders were stunned to silence. Naruto's eyes switched back to blue. The surprise and the prospect of ending this insane curse cooled his temper. He looked at Tokuma, who, surprisingly, didn't seem to think it was a good idea.

''But be careful; if you don't do it correctly, you will destroy his Byakugan and turn him blind. You might even kill him; the curse is the branch family's ultimate burden, after all.''

These words chilled Naruto's bones. Hiashi prompted him to do it a gain. Uncertainly, Naruto walked to join the widower, who was still kneeling on the floor, Juki closely wrapped in his embrace. He slowly raised his hand and simply felt the seal with a soft blue hue of his chakra. Tokuma clenched his eyes shut, cold sweat dripping from his temples. He wanted to tell Naruto to let it go, but the mere possibility of the seal being removed was enough to keep his mouth shut. Besides, he trusted Naruto's judgement; he doubted the blond would go on if he didn't sense it was in his capacity.

Naruto pressed his lips tightly together in concentration as he scanned the seal. The seal was incredibly complex and was not using the Kobun, despite having been designed by an Uzumaki. It had been designed to not be easily destroyed, even with his clan superior abilities. His mother would most likely have had the ability, but neither he nor his father possessed such skills at the moment.

He let his hand fall down, resigned and broken hearted.

''Naruto... I think it's time we gave up on this,'' Tokuma whispered softly.

Naruto did not hear him. He stared at the seal on the man's forehead and, without another word, he just walked out of them room.

OoOoO

Both Sasuke and Neji's stamina was starting to run low. They had both agreed on a clean spar; no weapons, no ninjutsu, no dojutsu; just simple and plain taijutsu. Sasuke was unused to the Hyuuga's fighting style. He had seen it on a couple of occasion at the academy because of Hinata, but he had never paid much attention to it. Fortunately, he hadn't earned his Rookie of the Year title for nothing, and Neji without his activated Byakugan was definitely not as fearsome.

The boys were literally covered in bruises and dirt; both were fighting with an intensity that had seemed reserved for the both of them; they couldn't stand each other's guts. Panting and aching all over, they both silently agreed on a break. From the corner of their eyes, however, they could see a slow-moving petite figure. The boys turned to find Naruto walking slowly towards them, eyes downward and empty.

With this sight, Neji would have liked to find something to rejoice about, but he didn't. He felt just as bitter about this whole situation as he always had. He knew nothing could change his fate and that was what made him unsatisfied.

Naruto's gaze finally lifted up to look at Sasuke once he got closer. He stopped just in front. Sasuke had no idea what to say; finding the right words in such situations had never been his forte.

Blue eyes quickly filled up with tears and the blond threw himself in Sasuke's arms, hugging him fiercely but, trembling slightly as he held back his tears. The Uchiha wrapped his arms tightly around his friend and said nothing.

OoOoO

Later that night, Naruto sat outside in a deserted training field, staring down at one of the many scrolls he had brought back from Uzushio's secret library. The scroll opened before him contained a series of prototypes of the Caged Bird seal from the Uzumaki traitor. The sealmaster had destroyed the final notes on his work, making the deciphering of the seal even header than it already was. Naruto wondered what the Hyuuga clan could have possibly offered the man for him to accept such a commission; one that had led to his execution once the clan had found out. It was something the blond Uzumaki definitely wanted to investigate, but that wasn't his priority right now.

Fortunately, today he had been able to take a much closer look at the seal when he sensed Tokuma's. This and the notes would provide him with the basis he needed to find a way to safely take it off. However, before he could hope to accomplish that, he needed to be able to understand how it worked and summon it.

He spent the next hours reading and studying the notes and trying to find a pattern with what he had found when he had scanned Tokuma's seal. He came up with several prototypes and decided it was time to try them out. Not wanting to risk messing with his own sight -and even his life- he summoned a shadow clone. The clone looked at him warily, knowing exactly what was coming.

''I hate being a clone,'' the other Naruto complained.

''It's for a good cause, you know,'' the original replied. The clone only nodded and sighed.

Naruto performed several hand signs and applied the attempted Caged Bird seal on the clan's forehead.

Almost instantly, the clone closed his eyes, clenched his head and screamed out in pain. Naruto's blue eyes widened and his breath stopped and the very raw and powerful reaction. He tried to control the seal and make the pain stop -as he was supposed to be able to do- but no change occurred. The whole scene lasted mere seconds before the clone could no longer take the pain and dissipated itself.

Naruto flinched when he received his clone's memory. He did not feel their pain of course -otherwise the jutsu would be useless- but he had the memory of the pain and he did not look forward to his next attempt.

He revised his design and steps, then summoned a new clone. The latter swallowed quickly.

''We're doing this for Juki-chan,'' Naruto reminded the clone, who only nodded in return.

OoOoO

Several days past and Naruto was quite optimistic. He was making tremendous progress in all areas of his training, let it be combat tactics, fuinjutsu or the controlling of the Kyuubi's chakra. He had not yet reached his goals, but he sensed it was only a matter of time.

Right now, he was with his godfather who was now in charge of today's chakra-control training since his father was busy making plans with the Hokage and high-ranking shinobis.

The two of them fought and emptied Naruto's natural chakra reserve so it'd be easier to summon the Kyuubi's. Then, Jiraiya performed a high-level Earth jutsu, forming a seemingly bottomless crater in the ground.

''Alright, kiddo, we're gonna do things a little differently today,'' Jiraiya declared rather seriously. Naruto raised a suspicious brow at that. Jiraiya was never serious.

''What do you mean?'' Naruto asked still slightly out of breath. He then eyed the crater worriedly.

''I think it's time we make a leap forward. If we don't you won't be ready in time to face Shukaku,'' Jiraiya explained. Naruto nodded slightly, he agreed with the old man. ''And for that, I need to make sure your father won't interfere.''

Naruto understood the implication and gave his godfather the kunai his father had given him. The toad sage took it, then looked pointedly at his godson.

''The one on my skin too?'' Naruto asked uncertainly.

''Of course! If your father senses that you're going too far with the Nine-Tails' chakra and that I'm not stopping it, he'll teleport for sure!''

''… I understand,'' Naruto nodded, brought his collar down and highlighted the seal so Jiraiya could see it. Jiraiya promptly deactivated the seal, then turned to his nephew.

''We don't have much time; your father will probably notice the lack of connection and come here as fast as he can.''

''O-ok... but what do I do?''

''Survive,'' Jiraiya said simply before pushing the boy powerfully into the middle crater.

''Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!''

Naruto's heart pounded heavily against his chest and tears escaped his eyes as the wind from the fall dried out his eyes. He was free falling and had no idea what to do. He knew he was supposed to use the demon's chakra, but no sealing gate or offensive jutsu would help him right now. He as having a hard time thinking of anything at all; too afraid the pitch black emptiness before him would soon reach ground and kill him in the process. He was too far from the earth walls to plant a weapon into it and slow down his fall. The only thing that could possibly help him was...

 _The chakra chains!_

Naruto summoned the demon's chakra as fast as he could; he didn't have time to meditate and ponder the appropriate balance for it; he'd just have to do his best. He felt the raw power invade his body and it nearly choked him. He willed himself to keep some control on the flow and refused for the Kyuubi to take over. He extended his hand and a chain flew out of his palm with an extreme force that he had not been able to censor. The pointy tip of the chain dug deep into the earth walls he knew not how profoundly -definitely more than necessary for sure- but at least now he had something to grab onto. Naruto then poured enormous amounts on chackra into the chains and body to strengthen them and avoid injury from the whiplash effect once the chain stopped extending. He was now being swung off from one side to the other at his extremity of the chain, looking down at he could faintly identify as the bottom of the pit. The swinging motion came to a stop at last, and Naruto let out a shaky but long sigh he had been holding.

The raw heat and power from the Kyuubi's chakra was giving him a hard time to even breathe, but Naruto didn't pay attention to that. The blood-red chakra around him was digging into the soil beside him as he climbed up the chain until he reached the top of it. He extended his other, free claw-like shaking hand and summoned another chain, which planted further up into the wall. He continued this process until he saw the edge of the crater. There, he saw that his father had just arrived, a clearly panicked expression over his face. The older blond man reached out for his son and grabbed the possessed boy's arm.

For the first time since the demon has been sealed into him, Naruto was able to stop the demonic flow of chakra on his own. His eyes and nails went back to normal; his scares became finer again and he let himself fall into his father's lap.

''I... did it,'' Naruto said quietly but still found enough energy to grin at his dad.

Minato strengthened his hold around his son, then threw a murderous look at his sensei.

''You are never training Naruto ever again,'' the blond declared seriously. Jiraiya rolled his eyes and shrugged it off.

''Come on, Minato!'' Jiraiya cried out, arms up in the air. ''I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think the kid could do it! He made more progress with me today than with you in the past weeks! You're holding him back.''

''He's right... you know,'' Naruto said, though still not moving. Minato's heart ached a little when Naruto used the language tic he shared with his mother. He was so much like her.

''I-...'' Minato wanted to bite back. He did _not_ approve of his sensei's method, but he couldn't deny the truth either. This had been a _tremendous_ step forward. And he of course knew his sensei would have rescued his son if he had seen things gone astray. Still... ''We'll talk about this later... Let's just bring Naruto home.''

OoOoO

The day of Orochimaru and Kabuto's departure for Konoha arrived. Both Suigetsu and Karin had agreed to let at least another day pass after that to provide enough distance between them to avoid any trouble, should the two evil men learn of their attempted escape. Suigetsu had told Karin that he would take care of their route and overall plans. The only thing he asked the girl to do, as the sealing expert, was take care of the two seals they had on their palms; the chakra blocking seal, and the anti-escape seal. The anti-escape seal was basically a seal that was related to other seals at each of the facility's entrances. When a prisoner got too close to the exits, they would instantly get knocked out and heavily injured with a raiton jutsu.

The seal itself was simple and easy to break for Karin... but without access to her chakra, there was nothing she could do.

As Suigetsu planned their escape the last couple of days, Karin dedicated her time to study the chakra-blocking seal. She studied its design and reaction when she tried to use chakra and studied how the seal blocked it.

After a while, she finally understood how it worked and came up with an idea. It would be extremely risky, and not to mention painful, but it was entirely worth it if it meant getting out of here and seeing her cousin again.

The time for their escape had come. Suigetsu quietly entered Karin's room with weapons he had managed to steal without the sound-ninja guards that had been left behind.

''Did you come up with a solution?'' Suigetsu asked anxiously. The success of their escape rested entirely on Karin; if they couldn't destroy the seals, they basically couldn't do anything. Karin nodded slowly and Suigetsu let out a thankful sigh. Karin eyed the long sword Suigetsu had stolen from himself, then looked back at the young man's eyes.

''I need your help for that,'' Karin said quietly.

''Sure, anything,'' the boy replied restlessly.

Karin extended her right arm; the one that had the chakra-blocking seal on her hand.

''I need you to cut my hand off,'' she calmly explained.

Suigetsu managed to hold back his scandalized scream; he didn't want to alert the guards, but he was still unimaginable taken aback by the girl's request.

''Are you out of your fucking mind?!'' Suigetsu lashed out through his teeth, looking at the girl like she had gone completely mind.

''It's the only way. It'll allow me to have access to my chakra again, and I'll be able to deactivate the others. Don't worry, you won't have to cut your own hand off; I'll just destroy the seal.''

''There has to be another way to-''

''There _isn't_ ,'' Karin interrupted firmly. ''Besides, if there's one positive thing I got from this hellhole, it's that I now know the full extent of my healing abilities. I'll probably be able to save my hand. Now, just _do it_.''

Suigetsu swallowed thickly and clenching the hilt of his sword. He hesitated for another moment, but Karin's burning gaze was pushing him to act. A cold drop of sweat rolled along his temple before he nodded. Karin understood and took the hem of her bed cover to fold and bite into to help manage the pain that was to come. If she was too loud, it would attract the Sound-nins guarding the hideout.

''I'll count to three,'' Suigetsu warned and waited for Karin to nod. When she did, he grabbed his sword with both his hands and readied himself. ''1... 2...3!''

With one clean blow, he cut off Karin's hand. The girl muffled her scream and instantly clenched the bleeding hem of his arm. She trembled and sobbed, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. She spit out the fabric and took in shallow and uneven breaths to try and regain some sort of control over herself.

Once her mind was finally free of the initial shock and pain, Karin finally realized that she had indeed gotten back control over her chakra. The plan had worked. She unclenched her arm and brought her trembling, bloody fingers into a handsign to summon her chakra ink. She first destroyed the chakra blocking seal that was on her severed hand, then performed another jutsu to reattach it to her arm. It would take time, but she had very high hopes that her hand would fully heal thanks to the seal and her natural healing ability. She did yet another jutsu to numb the pain. At last she could breathe.

Having regained control over her chakra, the rest of the mission was easy to execute. She promptly destroyed both her and suigetsu's remaining seals and prepared for escape.

Suigetsu had done his homework too. He knew exactly where the guards were along with their schedules. Suigetsu patched up Karin with makeshift bandages as not to leave traces of blood behind them, then, when the timing was right, they exited the room. They sneaked along the corridors with the stealth only high ranking ninjas could perform. As Suigetsu had hoped, they did not have to fight any of them and simply passed them. It took a while since they often had to take cover and wait for guards to walk away and be far enough, but slowly and surely they made their way near the main entrance.

''Here's where it gets complicated,'' Suigetsu whispered from their hiding spot. There were two guards at the door and only one way out. There was no way around them. They'd have to take them out fast enough that they wouldn't have time to call for reinforcement. And then... ''I have no idea how many people are outside... our best shot after taking those two out would be to disguise ourselves and avoid conflict for as long as we can before making a run for it.''

''If you give me some time, I can sense how many and where they are positioned,'' Karin informed her partner. The latter's eyes widened in surprise slightly.

''… fine, but you'll have to hurry. There'll be three others coming this way soon. I'll take care of the one at the door while you do that.''

Karin nodded and wasted no time. She closed her eyes and used her _Mind's Eye of the Kagura_ technique to sense all surrounding enemies' chakra. She focused her scan on the outside of the building and made great care to remember where they were and in which direction they were moving in order to anticipate their positions.

Meanwhile, Suigetsu used his Hydrification technique to creep along the ventilation system and discretely reappeared behind the guards, silently summonsing a water clone as he did. Neither guards even had the time to make any sound when they noticed the their presence. Suigetsu and his clone slit their throats mercilessly. The two bodies fell to the ground and Suigetsu dispelled his clone.

Karin turned the corner from where she had been hiding and joined her partner in crime hurriedly. They quickly used Henge to take the appearance of the guards the Kiri-nin had just killed.

''There are twenty five scattered around the facility. Ten of them are ahead of us, starting about twenty feet from the entrance. If we can avoid alerting those, the others are far enough no to worry about.

''Alright, let me do the talking and just follow me.''

Karin nodded and took a deep breath, her heart pounding rapidly against her chest. She was wary, but also strangely excited.

The two opened the heavy iron door and walked casually outside. Just as Karin had sensed, there were ten Sound nins outside no too far from there, walking different rounds in pairs. The closest pair noticed them right away and walked towards them. Suigetsu took the lead.

''We've received a message from Lord Orochimaru. Intelligence from the Leaf is out and scouting teams were sent to find this lab. We were instructed to set traps in the vicinity as precaution.''

''Understood,'' one of the two said simply and nodded. Karin and Suigetsu schooled their expression in perfect neutrality and seriousness, though they were both very put off at how easy it had been. They continued in a slow but military-like step, getting nearer and nearer to the woods surrounding the facility.

Suddenly, the door to the lab open with a loud _bang_ and dozens of Sound nins started to come out.

''They're imposters, stop them! The prisoners escaped!'' One of them shouted urgently. The dead bodies of the front door guards had been found and the general alarm resounded in and out of the building.

The two prisoners barely exchanged a panicked look before taking off as fast as they could possibly could. As soon as they had entered the cover of the forest, Karin summoned several pairs of Shadow clones, who then took on the pair's appearance in order to mislead the enemies. The plan worked and the hord of enemies running after them divided themselves in different groups, following the baits.

''Hurry, this way!'' Suigetsu cried out and sped into the woods, jumping from branch to branch. Karin followed him, trying her best to keep his pace. The year she had spent injured and weakened -and lack of training- had taken a toll on her endurance, but fortunately, her jutsu were just as powerful. As she jumped on the branches, she quickly plastered explosive seals with her palm using her chakra chains. The Sound nin were gaining terrain on her, but not for long. One she was a safe distance from the explosions, she timed herself before activating them, taking out all immediate assailants.

Suigetsu stopped his race at the sound and looked back, and noticed the growing distance between him and Karin. He hurried back to her and crouched in front of her.

''Hop on, it'll be faster!'' Suigetsu ordered. Karin felt the pride she thought she had lost long ago ressurge within her, but promptly stomped on it. Now was not the time. She nodded and did as told. The Kiri nin secured her hold on her and sped forward.

''We can make it,'' Suigetsu said with a sharp-teeth smirk. Karin nodded silently, small, but determined smile set on her face. She had only one destination in her mind.

 _I'm coming, Naruto..._


End file.
